Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers See What Others Don’t – Women’s Basketball Championship Potential
10/7/2024 3:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Chloe Moore-McNeil sees what Big Ten women's basketball coaches and media do not -- a championship Indiana squad.
Yes, the Hoosiers lost All-America Mackenzie Holmes and sharp-shooting guard Sara Scalia (basically a combined 36 points, 10.5 rebounds per game, plus Scalia's team-leading 103 three-pointers), which was a major reason why they were picked fifth in preseason polls, but that misses the point – they have plenty of returning talent from a 26-6 team, an intriguing transfer portal boost and a veteran coach willing to tap into her Team USA basketball background to tweak the offense in new and exciting ways without deviating from her defense-first mentality.
"I'm super excited, super optimistic," says Moore-McNeil, the fifth-year guard who runs the Cream and Crimson show. "I have high expectations for us, just as I did the previous years before.
"I understand not everybody in the country has those same expectations for us, but it doesn't matter what they think. As Coach (Teri) Moren says, keep your blinders on, keep your head down and focus on yourself."
Moren is the program's winningest coach with a 10-year record of 226-99. She has built IU into a national powerhouse with an Elite Eight and two Sweet Sixteen appearances in the last four seasons.
Moore-McNeil, a do-it-all difference maker (10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, team-leading 160 assists and 44 steals last season) is joined by fellow fifth-year guard Sydney Parrish (10.8 points, 6.0 rebounds) and junior guard Yarden Garzon (11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 62 three-pointers) as the veteran foundation. They were catalysts last season, which included a 15-3 Big Ten record. Reserves Lexus Bargesser, Lilly Meister, Julianna LaMendola, Lenée Beaumont and Henna Sandvik will have opportunities for larger roles.
Newcomers are transfers Shay Ciezki (11.5 points, 74 three-pointers) from Penn State and Karoline Striplin (7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds) from Tennessee, plus heralded freshmen Faith Wiseman and Sydney Fenn.
"Once again, I'm excited about our team," Moren says. "Some experience, some veterans, but then just the development of those younger kids that have been waiting for opportunities and the work they did over the summer."
Moren praises the work ethic of her team, which has been a hallmark of her program building.
"The best part is to work with them every day and get excited about working with them every day," Moren says.
"The sky is the limit for this group. We've had to play differently with the graduation of Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia. That has made us become better coaches.
"We've had to go back and study and look at our personnel and really dive into playing differently than we have the last probably four or five years when we had Mackenzie on the inside. That's something I'm excited about."
Excitement includes the possible installation of the Princeton offense, which is heavy on passing, screening, movement and backdoor cuts for layups.
"We won't ever get away from trying to get it into the post," Parrish says, "but we have the ability to stretch it with Karoline and Lilly being able to stretch the court by being able to hit that three-point shot.
"We'll have a lot of back cuts, a lot of slice cuts and screens, a lot of movement. We're not known as the most athletic team sometimes off the dribble, but we have players who can do that. We want to confuse teams and rely on our three-point-shooting abilities as much as we can."
The transfer portal, combined with the ever-evolving NIL, have had huge impacts on every sport in recent years. Moren and the Hoosiers have thrived with it. Parrish and Scalia were among the standouts from other programs who have become Hoosiers.
"I feel like it changes every day," Moren says. "I mean, it is. It's challenging because of the fact that now with the NIL, there are other components to this thing as far as being able to go in and be successful diving into the transfer portal.
"But if you can find the right kids that for us want to be a part of the culture, want to be a part of the work ethic … they're all looking for something different. It's not always just about the NIL. It's trying to find the pieces out there that will fit with what we have, the foundation of how we have built Indiana women's basketball. That's always a challenge.
"We've had a lot of success doing it. The kids that we've found out of the portal have been really good for our program."
This is a new Big Ten era with the addition of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington making it an 18-team league. Moren embraces the extra competition, especially given the fact a Big Ten team hasn't won the national title since 2006, when Maryland did it. Iowa, with Caitlin Clark, was the runner-up the last two years.
"Iron sharpens iron," Moren says. "They're just going to make us all so much better.
"I think the goal for our league is somebody needs to win a national championship. It's been too long since a team in the Big Ten has been able to do that. I'm hoping that this might be the year that the Big Ten finally wins a national championship."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Chloe Moore-McNeil sees what Big Ten women's basketball coaches and media do not -- a championship Indiana squad.
Yes, the Hoosiers lost All-America Mackenzie Holmes and sharp-shooting guard Sara Scalia (basically a combined 36 points, 10.5 rebounds per game, plus Scalia's team-leading 103 three-pointers), which was a major reason why they were picked fifth in preseason polls, but that misses the point – they have plenty of returning talent from a 26-6 team, an intriguing transfer portal boost and a veteran coach willing to tap into her Team USA basketball background to tweak the offense in new and exciting ways without deviating from her defense-first mentality.
"I'm super excited, super optimistic," says Moore-McNeil, the fifth-year guard who runs the Cream and Crimson show. "I have high expectations for us, just as I did the previous years before.
"I understand not everybody in the country has those same expectations for us, but it doesn't matter what they think. As Coach (Teri) Moren says, keep your blinders on, keep your head down and focus on yourself."
Moren is the program's winningest coach with a 10-year record of 226-99. She has built IU into a national powerhouse with an Elite Eight and two Sweet Sixteen appearances in the last four seasons.
Moore-McNeil, a do-it-all difference maker (10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, team-leading 160 assists and 44 steals last season) is joined by fellow fifth-year guard Sydney Parrish (10.8 points, 6.0 rebounds) and junior guard Yarden Garzon (11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 62 three-pointers) as the veteran foundation. They were catalysts last season, which included a 15-3 Big Ten record. Reserves Lexus Bargesser, Lilly Meister, Julianna LaMendola, Lenée Beaumont and Henna Sandvik will have opportunities for larger roles.
Newcomers are transfers Shay Ciezki (11.5 points, 74 three-pointers) from Penn State and Karoline Striplin (7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds) from Tennessee, plus heralded freshmen Faith Wiseman and Sydney Fenn.
"Once again, I'm excited about our team," Moren says. "Some experience, some veterans, but then just the development of those younger kids that have been waiting for opportunities and the work they did over the summer."
Moren praises the work ethic of her team, which has been a hallmark of her program building.
"The best part is to work with them every day and get excited about working with them every day," Moren says.
"The sky is the limit for this group. We've had to play differently with the graduation of Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia. That has made us become better coaches.
"We've had to go back and study and look at our personnel and really dive into playing differently than we have the last probably four or five years when we had Mackenzie on the inside. That's something I'm excited about."
Excitement includes the possible installation of the Princeton offense, which is heavy on passing, screening, movement and backdoor cuts for layups.
"We won't ever get away from trying to get it into the post," Parrish says, "but we have the ability to stretch it with Karoline and Lilly being able to stretch the court by being able to hit that three-point shot.
"We'll have a lot of back cuts, a lot of slice cuts and screens, a lot of movement. We're not known as the most athletic team sometimes off the dribble, but we have players who can do that. We want to confuse teams and rely on our three-point-shooting abilities as much as we can."
The transfer portal, combined with the ever-evolving NIL, have had huge impacts on every sport in recent years. Moren and the Hoosiers have thrived with it. Parrish and Scalia were among the standouts from other programs who have become Hoosiers.
"I feel like it changes every day," Moren says. "I mean, it is. It's challenging because of the fact that now with the NIL, there are other components to this thing as far as being able to go in and be successful diving into the transfer portal.
"But if you can find the right kids that for us want to be a part of the culture, want to be a part of the work ethic … they're all looking for something different. It's not always just about the NIL. It's trying to find the pieces out there that will fit with what we have, the foundation of how we have built Indiana women's basketball. That's always a challenge.
"We've had a lot of success doing it. The kids that we've found out of the portal have been really good for our program."
This is a new Big Ten era with the addition of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington making it an 18-team league. Moren embraces the extra competition, especially given the fact a Big Ten team hasn't won the national title since 2006, when Maryland did it. Iowa, with Caitlin Clark, was the runner-up the last two years.
"Iron sharpens iron," Moren says. "They're just going to make us all so much better.
"I think the goal for our league is somebody needs to win a national championship. It's been too long since a team in the Big Ten has been able to do that. I'm hoping that this might be the year that the Big Ten finally wins a national championship."
Players Mentioned
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Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
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